That's a good question.
LSJohn, is being a good sportsman part of the criteria for HOF.
I don't remember ever playing Cecil and not having some sort of dispute with him. Not of my making either.
I don't know whether there are firm standards, but I would think so. Maybe a guy's personality would automatically be reflected in the voting.
I didn't know that about him. I happen to know someone who spent some time with him and has a high opinion of his game, but I don't recall anything ever coming up in our conversations about his personality, honor, character, manners, etc.
i always like to nominate EARL HEISLER
he played out of the sports palace in new orleans
i was there in there early to mid 1970's but i think he was there from the 1960's to 1980's
im sure he was a road player in the 1950's
i first got hooked on onepocket watching him battle the road players
he played a guy named bugs who i never heard. of .....
being a college student and not into the underground of pooldom
it wasnt until the legend of the road series came out in billiard digest??
did the names of players i saw in my youth come out and explain their legendary status....if i only knew then that i witnessed a part of pool history
that will probably never be repeated,,,,:frus
earl was the feature story of one of those
if anyone has a copy of the magazine with the story id be happy to pay for a copy of the article..
on page 274 of shots moves and strategies there is a picture of earl with the caption
"ONE OF THE VERY BEST ONEPOCKET PLAYERS OF ALL TIME"
in reality he may have been a ball or so below the very best ( im old and getting forgetfull but i think rod once told me that)
and when they cooked those boiled shrimp he was familiar with how the table played....
he gave action to the players that came thru
so i am formally nominating earl heisler perhaps not the very very best
but one whose name i would not like to see forgotten
if anyone played him or knew of him im always interested in stories
pm me or post
THANKS
There is no question about his abilities. I played him many times before he had to start shooting left handed.
He never regained his full skills when he had to change hands to play. But I can tell you that he was an excellent player right handed. I continued playing him and put up with his antics because I normally came out ahead.
To Cecil's credit after he had been busted up right handed and learned to play left-handed he had a challenge match with Efren Reyes at Hardtimes around 1994. JJ Jenkins had it on tape and showed me it once. I believe they were playing race to 3 and you had to win 4 sets for some good cash. Efren was up 2 sets and then Cecil won 4 sets in a row. He played flawlessly.
I asked Cecil about it once and he explained how there was always noise in his mind but every once in awhile he would be in "quiet time" where nothing else was going on and at those times he could achieve perfection. He said against Efren he hit one of those times.
To Cecil's credit after he had been busted up right handed and learned to play left-handed he had a challenge match with Efren Reyes at Hardtimes around 1994. JJ Jenkins had it on tape and showed me it once. I believe they were playing race to 3 and you had to win 4 sets for some good cash. Efren was up 2 sets and then Cecil won 4 sets in a row. He played flawlessly.
I asked Cecil about it once and he explained how there was always noise in his mind but every once in awhile he would be in "quiet time" where nothing else was going on and at those times he could achieve perfection. He said against Efren he hit one of those times.
I don't know whether there are firm standards, but I would think so. Maybe a guy's personality would automatically be reflected in the voting.
I didn't know that about him. I happen to know someone who spent some time with him and has a high opinion of his game, but I don't recall anything ever coming up in our conversations about his personality, honor, character, manners, etc.
here is a link to an old thread on cecil
stories by freddy /john henderson a/k/a THE CHAMP..../sjd/jay helfert to name a few
http://www.onepocket.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1546
i didnt see a thread on nominations. but i think we should push to get all the long gone old timers in since their memories will be gone with the present generation. no hurry or reason to get current pros in it unless they have been around for a few decades and stood the test of time.
what about a father son combo. joey and gary spaeth. they both qualify according to the rules.
Jack BreitIt's always tough to nominate players who actually played consistently at a very high level for an extended period. Most of the players I would nominate are deceased. But here goes:
- Jack Breit
- Ed Kelly
- Oklahoma Kid (can't remember his name)
- Marvin Henderson
It's always tough to nominate players who actually played consistently at a very high level for an extended period. Most of the players I would nominate are deceased. But here goes:
- Jack Breit
- Ed Kelly
- Oklahoma Kid (can't remember his name)
- Marvin Henderson